The Environmental Protection Agency has sent a draft rule to the White House's Office of Management and Budget, proposing to re-define what "qualifies as a body of water for federal protection under the Clean Water Act," a move that "could spread the EPA’s jurisdiction over agricultural waters wider than ever," reports Agri-Pulse, a Washington newsletter. "While the draft rule isn’t set to be officially released before the end of the month, leaked reports on its contents and the administration’s previous actions on the definition are igniting questions about potential changes for waters on agricultural land."
Several groups have weighed in on the issue, but no two seem to agree on what waters should fall under the EPA's jurisdiction, which has been a contentious issue since a 2006 Supreme Court case that resulted in a split opinion on the reach of EPA’s regulatory authority, specifically on whether a wetland or tributary is a 'water of the United States,'" Agri-Pulse reports. "The justices wrote five separate opinions, with none commanding a majority of the court. Justice Anthony Kennedy, in his opinion, wrote that wetlands are waters of the United States 'if they significantly affect the chemical, physical and biological integrity of other covered waters more readily understood as navigable.’"
Don Parrish, regulatory director for the U.S. Farm Bureau Federation, "says the administration is morphing Kennedy’s opinion into 'any connection'," which he said is not justified, Agri-Pulse writes. The draft rule could be based on an EPA report that states: "Streams, regardless of their size or how frequently they flow, are connected to and have important effects on downstream waters. These streams supply most of the water in rivers, transport sediment and organic matter, provide habitat for many species, and take up or change nutrients that could otherwise impair downstream waters. Wetlands and open-waters in floodplains of streams and rivers and in riparian areas (transition areas between terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems) are integrated with streams and rivers. They strongly influence downstream waters by affecting the flow of water, trapping and reducing nonpoint source pollution, and exchanging biological species. Finally, there is insufficient information to generalize about wetlands and open-waters located outside of riparian areas and floodplains and their connectivity to downstream waters."
Along those lines, "The Teddy Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, which represents outdoorsmen and the conservation community, has its own agenda for the definition: It would like to see more protection for wetlands . . . than is now implied by EPA. Jimmy Hague, the director of the TRCP Center for Water Resources, said the organization wants 'unidirectional' waters, such as the wetlands of the Prairie Pothole Region in the northern Great Plains, protected under the rule, as well as the 'bidirectional' waters and 'adjacent water bodies' highlighted in the report." Agri-Pulse is subscription only, but can be accessed by clicking here.
Several groups have weighed in on the issue, but no two seem to agree on what waters should fall under the EPA's jurisdiction, which has been a contentious issue since a 2006 Supreme Court case that resulted in a split opinion on the reach of EPA’s regulatory authority, specifically on whether a wetland or tributary is a 'water of the United States,'" Agri-Pulse reports. "The justices wrote five separate opinions, with none commanding a majority of the court. Justice Anthony Kennedy, in his opinion, wrote that wetlands are waters of the United States 'if they significantly affect the chemical, physical and biological integrity of other covered waters more readily understood as navigable.’"
Don Parrish, regulatory director for the U.S. Farm Bureau Federation, "says the administration is morphing Kennedy’s opinion into 'any connection'," which he said is not justified, Agri-Pulse writes. The draft rule could be based on an EPA report that states: "Streams, regardless of their size or how frequently they flow, are connected to and have important effects on downstream waters. These streams supply most of the water in rivers, transport sediment and organic matter, provide habitat for many species, and take up or change nutrients that could otherwise impair downstream waters. Wetlands and open-waters in floodplains of streams and rivers and in riparian areas (transition areas between terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems) are integrated with streams and rivers. They strongly influence downstream waters by affecting the flow of water, trapping and reducing nonpoint source pollution, and exchanging biological species. Finally, there is insufficient information to generalize about wetlands and open-waters located outside of riparian areas and floodplains and their connectivity to downstream waters."
Along those lines, "The Teddy Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, which represents outdoorsmen and the conservation community, has its own agenda for the definition: It would like to see more protection for wetlands . . . than is now implied by EPA. Jimmy Hague, the director of the TRCP Center for Water Resources, said the organization wants 'unidirectional' waters, such as the wetlands of the Prairie Pothole Region in the northern Great Plains, protected under the rule, as well as the 'bidirectional' waters and 'adjacent water bodies' highlighted in the report." Agri-Pulse is subscription only, but can be accessed by clicking here.
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